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Your Guitar “Must-haves”
By admin | December 6, 2007
Well Christmas is right around the corner, and with that comes the pressure of buying gifts for people not having any idea what they want! Well, I decided to try and do my part and give you some great gift ideas for that guitar player/enthusiast on your list! I’m going to try and keep these well within a manageable price range (meaning no $4,000 Gibson Robot guitars) and also have a little something for everyone, whether the guitar player on your list is a shredding metal-head or a die hard Neil Young fan. Any of these would also make great stocking stuffers!
First off is one of the best little guitar inventions ever (in my humble opinion) - The Dunlop Turbo Tune String/Peg winder. Its a peg winder that isn’t JUST a peg winder, but the tuning-key end of the tool is removable and can be used with a electric screwdriver or drill. That means that you can cut down EVEN MORE on your string change time, which is never a bad thing! You can find it here.
Next up is one of my favorite guitar accessories - The String Swing CC01 Guitar Hanger. Nothing makes a room look quite as cool as when you’ve got guitars mounted on the walls! These come with standard screws (that are pretty heavy duty) and some great drywall screws, and the hanger itself is built quite sturdy and looks good! I’ve used these personally for quite a while and can vouch for their sturdiness, especially seeing as most of my guitars are pretty heavy (Les Paul). You can find this here.
Got a singer/songwriter on your Christmas gift list? Make his or her life a lot easier by picking up a Shubb C1 Capo. In case you don’t know, capos (pronounced “kae-po”) make it a whole lot easier to play in keys that aren’t exactly guitar friendly without adjusting your tuning. The reason I prefer these in particular over the standard clamp-on style of capos is because you can adjust the tension. This prevents your guitar from being thrown madly out of tune every time you put on or remove your capo. These also come in “cut-capo” form, for the more experimental acoustic player out there. You can find the standard one here.
Got a regular gigger on your list? One of my favorite (not to mention one of the cheapest) little accessories for playing live shows is the Dunlop 5010 Mic Stand Pick Holder. I am absolutely TERRIBLE about dropping picks right in the middle of singing or riffing, so it is so handy to have that little holder on the mic stand to bail me out whenever I need it! This fits very easily on just about any standard microphone stand, and easily holds 6-8 picks depending on what brand you play with. I wouldn’t really recommend this for someone who doesn’t play live at least semi-regularly, simply because it won’t get used otherwise. If you DO know someone who is regularly playing, this is a must. You can find it here.
As far as I’m concerned, every guitar player needs to own the Crossroads Guitar Festival DVD filmed in Dallas in November 2004. The “who’s who” of guitar players are not only there, but they share the stage together on several points - guys like Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Clapton, Robert Randolph, Steve Vai, B.B. King, Jimmie Vaughn… you name it, it is there. It is a very entertaining DVD that surprisingly doesn’t over-do the blues. There’s several genres, from Steve Vai to James Taylor, so there’s definitely something for everyone. And even if your long-haired rocker thinks that James Taylor is nothing but a wuss with an acoustic, the production of this DVD is certainly good enough to hold his attention. Plus, all proceeds from the sale of this DVD go to the Crossroads Centre of Antigua (a Clapton-owned rehab facility that recently housed Lindsay Lohan and Brittaney Spears). You can find this here.
And finally, for that up-and-coming guitar player that you know that has a ton of promise - Fretboard Roadmaps Vol. 1. This book is one of the best compilations I’ve ever seen of practical yet tasty guitar riffs, and it has certainly become a resource for me for both playing and teaching. This book really takes you through not only some great, versatile guitar riffs but it also details HOW the original author got there, and the music theory behind what is happening. This is a great book, and is useful by anyone who is trying to take their skills to the next level. You can find it here.
So there you have it! Hit up those links and put a smile on your guitar players face. You won’t regret it.
Topics: Uncategorized |
December 6th, 2007 at 9:41 am
Great suggestions. I LOVE live music DVD’s. As a musician, it has helped me learn songs I probably couldn’t have using people’s crappy tabs online.
A tuner is always a great gift. Favorite picks maybe. Those cheesy guitar cleaning kits. and last but not least, I’ve seen these on ebay, for exactly 30 you can get miniature replicas of famous guitars. Kinda cool but you can’t play them…